You’ve probably seen the four-letter codes floating around. Maybe a coworker has "INTJ" in their email signature, or you saw a meme about "ENFP energy" on your feed. You take a ten-minute quiz, answer a few questions about whether you like parties or planners, and boom: a label. But honestly, if you're asking what is my myers briggs personality, the answer is a lot more nuanced than a percentage bar on a screen.
Most people treat the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) like a buzzfeed quiz. It’s not. It was never meant to be. It started during World War II, when Katharine Cook Briggs and her daughter, Isabel Briggs Myers, wanted to help women entering the industrial workforce find jobs that actually fit their natural temperaments. They weren't psychologists with PhDs, which is a fact critics love to throw around, but they were obsessed with Carl Jung’s theory of psychological types. They spent decades refining a system that is now used by nearly 90% of Fortune 100 companies.
What Is My Myers Briggs Personality? The Four-Letter Code Broken Down
To understand your type, you have to look at the four "dichotomies." Think of these as mental muscles. You use both, but you have a natural "handedness" or preference for one over the other.
- Extraversion (E) vs. Introversion (I): This is purely about energy. Do you recharge by interacting with the external world (E), or does your battery fill up in your internal world of thoughts and reflection (I)? It isn't just about being shy or loud. Some of the most social people are actually introverts who just happen to have great "people skills" but need to crash for three days afterward.
- Sensing (S) vs. Intuition (N): This is the information-gathering stage. "Sensors" live in the here and now. They want facts, data, and things they can touch. "Intuitives" look at the big picture. They see patterns, possibilities, and future implications. Basically, if a sensor sees a tree, an intuitive sees a potential forest or the lumber needed for a house.
- Thinking (T) vs. Feeling (F): This is how you make decisions. "Thinkers" prioritize logic, consistency, and objective truth. "Feelers" look at the impact on people and align with their internal value system. It doesn’t mean thinkers are robots or feelers are irrational; it’s just about what "filters" the decision first.
- Judging (J) vs. Perceiving (P): This describes how you deal with the outside world. "Judgers" like closure. They want a plan, a schedule, and a finished task. "Perceivers" like keeping their options open. They are spontaneous and often work best when a deadline is breathing down their neck.
Why Your Online Test Result Is Probably Wrong
Here is the kicker: those online tests that ask "Do you like to go to parties?" are often misleading. Why? Because behavior is not the same as preference. An introvert might go to a party because it’s their best friend’s birthday, even if they’d rather be reading. If the test only asks about the action, it misses the motive.
Many experts, like those at the Myers-Briggs Foundation, argue that "best-fit type" is only discovered through an interpretive feedback session with a practitioner. Why? Because humans are notoriously bad at seeing themselves objectively. You might answer a test based on who you want to be at work, or who your parents expect you to be, rather than who you actually are when no one is watching.
The Secret Layer: Cognitive Functions
If you really want to know what is my myers briggs personality, you have to look under the hood at "cognitive functions." This is where it gets heavy. Each of the 16 types has a "stack" of four functions—Dominant, Auxiliary, Tertiary, and Inferior.
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For example, an INFJ and an INFP might look similar on the surface. They’re both introverted, intuitive, and feeling. But their internal engines are completely different. An INFJ uses Introverted Intuition (Ni) and Extraverted Feeling (Fe). They focus on future visions and social harmony. An INFP uses Introverted Feeling (Fi) and Extraverted Intuition (Ne). They focus on deep personal authenticity and exploring creative patterns.
If you just look at the four letters, you’re only seeing the paint job on the car. The cognitive functions are the engine.
Dealing With the "Pseudoscience" Label
It’s fair to acknowledge that the MBTI has its share of haters in the scientific community. Many modern psychologists prefer the "Big Five" (OCEAN) model because it measures personality on a spectrum rather than putting people in boxes. Critics point out that if you take an MBTI test today and again in six weeks, there’s a decent chance (some studies say up to 50%) you’ll get a different result.
However, the MBTI was never intended to be a clinical tool or a predictor of success. It’s a framework for self-awareness. When people say "it's just corporate astrology," they usually mean they've seen it misused. It should never be used to hire or fire someone. It should be used to understand why you and your partner argue about the dishes, or why your boss’s communication style makes you want to pull your hair out.
How to Actually Find Your Type
Don't just take one test and call it a day. If you’re serious about this, you need a multi-pronged approach.
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- Take the "Official" Assessment: If you can, go through the Myers-Briggs Company’s official tool. It’s more rigorous than the free clones.
- Study the Functions: Look up the 8 cognitive functions (Se, Si, Ne, Ni, Te, Ti, Fe, Fi). Which ones feel like your "autopilot"? Which ones feel like a struggle?
- Ask Your Inner Circle: Sometimes our friends see our patterns better than we do. Ask them, "Do I seem more focused on what is or what could be?"
- The "Stress" Test: Look at how you act under extreme pressure. This is often when our "Inferior Function" takes over (the "Grip" experience). An ISTJ under stress might suddenly become uncharacteristically impulsive and emotional, which is their inferior Extraverted Intuition (Ne) acting out.
Actionable Next Steps to Narrow It Down
Stop trying to find the "perfect" test and start observing your own brain in the wild.
- Journal your decision-making: For one week, write down why you made three specific decisions. Did you choose the restaurant because the reviews were logically the best (Thinking) or because you knew it was your friend's favorite and wanted them to be happy (Feeling)?
- Verify the "Middle Letters": The middle two letters (S/N and T/F) are the core of how you process the world. If you can't decide between S and N, read descriptions of "Sensing" vs "Intuition" in a deep-dive book like Gifts Differing by Isabel Briggs Myers.
- Look for the "Aha" moment: When you read the right type description, it shouldn't just feel "okay." It should feel slightly uncomfortable, like someone just read your diary. That’s usually the sign you’ve found it.
Finding your Myers-Briggs personality isn't about giving yourself a label to hide behind. It’s about finding a map. Once you know where you’re starting from, it’s a lot easier to figure out how to grow into the person you want to be.
Next steps for you:
Start by looking at your "Dominant Function." If you think you're an INTJ, read up specifically on Introverted Intuition. If that doesn't sound like your internal monologue, you might be an ISTJ (Introverted Sensing) or even an ENTJ (Extraverted Thinking). Use the functions to verify the letters, not the other way around.